Since childhood, I have been interested in art and craft. I wanted to pursue a career in fine arts but it remained a dream. Though this pandemic has brought untold miseries to all of us, it gave me an opportunity to pause and reflect on things which are important and close to my heart. This lockdown gave me a window to rekindle my interests and hobbies.

The first project I undertook was restoring wooden statues of Lord Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra (see above). My parents bought these for me over 25 years ago when I visited Puri as a child with them.

The second is a string art (see pictures below), made with nails and coloured strings/thread on a wooden plank.

The first string art I did was 15 years back. Then this pandemic gave me an opportunity to return to it. String art is a simple yet fun way to make your own artwork. It requires a ply broad, nails, a small hammer, spray paint, coloured strings and of course a design (in my case an Owl). First draw your desired design on a piece of paper and place it over the ply broad. Then hammer the nails along the border of the design at equal intervals. Once all nails are hammered, remove the paper and paint the ply broad and let it dry. Then begin filling using the coloured strings by crisscrossing and wrapping from nail to nail.

In spite of the sufferings all around, I find solace in my art and craft work.

Santanu Kar, 40 years, Greenwood Sonata, New Town

Shantanu's string art tip

Lockdown days

In the lockdown period, I am dividing my time between studies, chatting with my grandparents in the evening and speaking to my father on video call.

I am doing my Class XII studies online and preparing for upcoming competitive examinations. My father gets me to write articles on the pandemic. Often he posts my articles on Facebook. One such article got more than 300 likes and 150 comments. I also do yoga and meditation, photos of which he likes to post as well.

Before the lockdown, I used to swim, play with my friends, go for training in summer sports coaching camps. All that has gone for a toss.

Stuck at home, we are missing the things which we used to do before the pandemic, like visiting public places, celebrating festivals, playing, visiting relatives etc. But we are making the sacrifices for our good.

If we maintain Covid protocol strictly, we will surely win the battle against the pandemic.

Rudroprasad Bandyopadhyay, 16 years, BJ Block

Saluting Covid warriors

Time to read, cook & paint

In my summer holidays, I am enjoying doing many things. I read many books like Tiara Friends, the full collection of the Wishing Chair, Tom Gates, the Secret Seven and Famous Five stories to name a few. I even watched a few good movies like The Chronicles of Narnia and Dennis the Menace on Google Play Movies.

Apart from just playing, I also joined a cookery workshop by Rakshita Dwivedi ma’am. We learnt to make choco fudge and home-made mayonnaise. Both of these items involved fireless cooking and I had a lot of fun making both of them.

I have learnt cycling without the balance wheels. It was much easier than I thought. Earlier, I just didn’t want to cycle. But now, I love it so much that I want to cycle all day. I am enjoying coding and drawing a lot. I prefer drawing in the afternoon. I was doing a hackathon quiz conducted by PETA and Wise Owl Learning. Not only did we solve a quiz, but we also attended many wonderful workshops and made a project on building our jungle camp too!

A few days ago, when my parents had gone for Covid vaccination, it was Sunday and so I sketched a girl like me. It was my first pencil sketch and my daddy was very happy.

I have started painting with poster paint, acrylic paint and water pastel. I prefer water pastels because it’s the easiest.

I love playing tea-parties with my doll Angela. I’ll be attending a five-day pencil shading workshop this month and I am really excited about it.

I like my daddy’s company wherever I go. I love playing and spending time with him. I am lucky to have him with me. I am enjoying my holidays and hope they’ll never end.

Vasundhara Biswas, 9 years, FD Block